President Bush does not support the push for firearms "fingerprinting" that has grown from the Washington-area sniper shootings, a spokesman said Tuesday, saying Bush is unconvinced of the technology's accuracy and is concerned about gun owners' privacy.

Besides, added White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, when it comes to new gun controls generally, "How many laws can we really have to stop crime, if people are determined in their heart to violate them no matter how many there are or what they say?"

"Stop crime?" That's a tall order, Ari. Maybe firearm fingerprinting won't stop crime. Maybe it will. Maybe it will merely reduce crime. But you can be sure of one thing, it will assist in finding the criminal. Even if the criminal manages to get a non-fingerprinted rifle, the police will be able to eliminate other suspects that have a fingerprinted weapon. But then, we're being logical.

Nice to see Bush concerned about privacy. Too bad it's only for gun owners.